Mexican restaurant possibly coming to former Triple Taproom / Hacienda / BBC on East Side

A vacant anchor business on Milwaukee’s East Side may soon see new life.

A sign taped to the mailbox of the former Triple Taproom / Hacienda / BBC space at 2018 E. North Avenue indicates Jalisco Cocina & Bar may be opening there soon. The attached sticker is from Jalisco’s Cantina, which opened in April 2025 at 2018 S. 1st St., a.k.a. the Lincoln Warehouse.

But Jalisco’s Cantina owner Miguel Herrera tells Milwaukee Record that the planned North Avenue location will be a different venture, run by one of his siblings.

“At Jalisco’s we are a family owned business since my parents opened its first restaurant on 16th Street in Milwaukee on Cesar E. Chavez Drive,” Herrera says. “My mother still owns that location, and I have opened Jalisco’s Cantina on 1st Street in the Lincoln Warehouse. The new location on North Avenue is a business another sibling is opening.”

Herrera’s family also ran the former Jalisco’s at 2124 N. Farwell Ave. That location was purchased by employees and transformed into Judy’s On North in 2019. Judy’s On North closed in 2023 due to a fire, and eventually relocated to its current location at 2124 N. Farwell Ave., where it’s now known as Judy’s Cantina.

As of now, no license applications appear to be filed with the city. The building’s windows have been covered for several weeks.

The storied North Avenue bar and restaurant space has been vacant for five months. Hacienda Beer Co. opened there in 2019. It rebranded as Hacienda Taproom & Kitchen, then Triple Taproom, and closed in August 2025. Before that, the space was the longtime home of G-Daddy’s BBC. The BBC closed in April 2017. During the 1970s, the space was occupied by a Mexican restaurant, El Matador. (Hat-tip to a reader on that last bit.)